Precautions of a Snakepit - Chapter 12

“Noona, do you hate smokers by chance? Or the smell of cigarettes? You don’t smell anything unpleasant on me, do you? I care about it.”

Before Won realized it, Ju-hee had switched from “unnie” to “noona.”

Won shook her head and Ju-hee nervously sniffed her body.

“No, not at all. I just didn’t realize you were a smoker.”

“Really? Hehe, good.”

Won looked at Ju-hee, who smiled.

It wasn’t legal to have a smoking room in an asylum, but this hospital has a smoking room. It’s also not outdoors or on the roof, but in the middle of the building. It was a place where Won couldn’t expect anything to be normal.

With that in mind, Won regained her composure. She recalled the new information she learned from Ju-hee.

The patients in the ward call Black Cat a “Snake.”

“There’s more sh*t to come, but if you keep one thing in mind, you’ll be able to live in this shitty place just fine. I’m going to tell you the precautions to take in the locked ward, so open your ears and listen.”

“Watch out for snakes.”

Top Dog’s cynical voice replayed in Won’s head.

‘Is that snake…’

“Just this once, I’m going to go out of my way to teach you something special, sweetheart. You asked who the Snake was, right? The Snake is…not a person.”

No, Top Dog clearly stated that the snake is not a person. If Black Cat was the snake, then Top Dog’s statement didn’t make sense.

‘But what guarantee do I have that Top Dog was telling the truth? What if he is playing with me?’

Maybe it was a play on words like Black Cat isn’t a human, so he said so. Won could easily picture Top Dog doing so.

‘Snake, snake…’

Won counted the number of times she thought of that word since she arrived.

The horror stories of snakes prowling the ward, and the sound of it slithering that she heard last night.

Dr. Madison with his snake-like eyes.

Top Dog with his snake tattoo on his arm.

Black Cat, whose nickname is “Snake.”

Won wondered how there could be so many snake-related things in the confines of the closed ward. She wondered if she walked into a snake pit instead of a psychiatric unit.

She felt a strange chill. Just as she thought about the sensation creeping up her leg like a snake, someone grabbed her shoulder.

“Um.”

“You have a private check-up with the doctor at 8 P.M. today.”

It was the nurse.

“I’ll be there to pick you up on time, so don’t fall asleep. Won, stay awake. Do you understand?”

Uselessly touching her shoulder, the nurse withdrew his hand and walked away. The man had an ominous look to him and Won felt uncomfortable.

After the nurse left, Ju-hee immediately reacted.

“Ew, what’s wrong with him, noona? That man. Let me clean your shoulder.”

Ju-hee grumbled as she dusted away the man’s germs with her sleeve.

“Don’t you dare touch noona like that. He’s unclean.”

“Thanks, Ju-hee, but it’s okay. Stop.”

“How dare he touch my noona with his dirty hands… F*ck, he doesn’t even know who he is messing with.”

Rubbing her stiff shoulders in frustration, Ju-hee looked like a high school boy to Won.

“I said it’s okay, so stop it now. You’ll wear out your clothes.”

“I’ll tear off his limbs.”

Won was stunned. Ju-hee was talking to herself with a strange look in her eyes. Her pupils looked like they were farther apart for some reason. Won grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

“Ju-hee, are you there?”

“Huh? Unnie?”

Ju-hee acted as if she had just woken up from a dream. Her eyes, which were abnormally dilated, returned to normal in no time.

“I’m sorry, I spoke so harshly just now. I need to work on my manners.”

Won gently withdrew her hands from her shoulder and she placed her hand over her mouth.

‘I must be mistaken. How can a human’s eyes…’

The lights must be playing tricks on her. The same way a saccharine head sometimes looks white or the same way a black, plastic bag discarded on the side of the road could be mistaken for a black cat.

***

Won arrived just in time to meet Black Cat in the playroom. He was sitting down with a board game set up.

“Great, I was just looking for someone to play with. If you don’t mind, let’s play a game.”

The nonchalant Black Cat looked like a competent practitioner from a foreign company. He would have looked sane if it weren’t for the striped patient attire.

Won sat down across from him. She figured she should at least hear what he had to say about why he told her to come over.

“I don’t play board games, so I don’t know much about them.”

“It doesn’t matter. Even a kindergartner can understand the rules.”

Won was impressed by his unusual language. She thought this type of person was extinct by the end of the last century.

Korea is a great country. You can say something stupid and not worry about getting shot.

“I’m going to have to work hard to not be worse than a kindergartner.”

Won snatched the manual and read it, and realized it was an escape room game on the board. They have to combine clues to decipher the board to escape the ‘cursed hospital.’

‘Is this game even allowed here?’

Playing a board game about escaping a cursed hospital while in a psychiatric hospital’s playroom. She could only say it was unique.

Won was in the middle of reading the rules when Black Cat spoke up.

“… The bottom line is, you and I have to work together to escape the hospital. Simple, right?”

Won tore her gaze away from the manual and looked at him. He seemed nonchalant at first, but his eyes were desperate.

“So this isn’t a random game, is it?” She asked.

Out of all the board games they could’ve played, this was the one he specifically picked and set aside.

“Well, I read the rules. It looks like it’s more fun in threes than twos.”

Black Cat gave her a look that said he understood. There was no choice. Won had come in here to take Target out. There was no way she was going to leave him behind and let herself escape with Black Cat.

“You better be smart. The rules are easy for this game, but when you play it, it’s pretty hard.”

“You’ve been waiting for me all this time because you didn’t have anyone else to play with.”

Black Cat bit his lip in frustration as he realized the topic.

Won paused.

‘… Huh?’

Wait… It’s cute?

Won scratched her head in confusion. There are cute things in this world, but how could a big, gruff man be cute? Somehow, he looked cute for a moment. He glared at Won with his reddish eyes that held a hint of resentment, and it made her want to bully him more…

“Alright, then. The three of us.”

Saying that Black Cat stood up from his seat with a clenched jaw and gathered up the board game.

‘He’s going to end this?’

Won was dumbfounded.

“You don’t want to play?”

“You said you thought it would be more fun in threes, so next time.”

Won watched as Black Cat put the board game away and quickly left the playroom.

‘He’s got a temper.’

***

Won’s smile filled the monitor. The security staff zoomed in using the CCTV.

Long, gently swaying black hair, docile eyes, and doll-like lashes fluttered when she looked down. Her white neck was thin and long, extending down her tiny face, full of expressions. She was as cute as a rabbit and as graceful as a deer.

“What a bitch,” the man muttered, staring at Won with bloodshot eyes. He was the nurse who had touched Won’s shoulder.

Won just being alone with a handsome man made his insides twist.

Is she the same? Does she fall for the handsome guys?

“If she’s a wh*re, she’s going after a very bad man.”

She looked innocent but had piercings on her n*pples. That must be why she was flirting with this guy, and that guy flirting with her because of her sweet body.

First, she went to No. 3 and flirted with him, then she climbed on top of No.1, and now she was sitting alone with No. 2 and laughing. She was giving all the men who looked good a pass, but when he grabbed her shoulders…

“F*cking bitch.”

The nurse moved the mouse with a look of rage on his face. As he maneuvered using the computer, the angle of the CCTV changed and so did the screen. The camera focused on Won’s chest, the volume was evident through her clothes.

After a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, the man unzipped his pants.

“Well, bitch, I’m definitely going to… hah… f*ck you.”

There was someone watching him from across the monitor.

Dr. Madison raised an eyebrow at the on-screen man’s d*sgusting behavior. Pulling down his pants and fondling his unsightly object while on duty.

“My eyes are going to rot.”

Every CCTV screen in the asylum was linked to a monitor at the nurses’ station. The idea was to keep an eye on the patients, yet the nurses seemed to believe that their home base was safe. Dr. Madison couldn’t believe someone would do something like this.

There is actually CCTV inside the nurses’ station. Just as they see the patients, Dr. Madison can see them, because rotten plants need to be nipped in the bud.

“I’ve warned you. You’re going to have an accident sooner or later.”

The man on the screen still hadn’t taken his eyes off of Won, fiddling with his scruffy p*nis, m*sturbating like an animal.

Clicking his tongue, Dr. Madison formed a gun with his fingers, pointed it at the man, and playfully hissed.

“Bang!”

dr madison is in a silly goofy mood it seems so like …. Kofi ???